LOW-FAT LASAGNA

I have sweet childhood memories of my mother cooking hearty beef and vegetable lasagna for us four kids during the middle of winter in Victoria. As the preparation and cooking time was quite extensive, us kids would reek havoc in the cozy house whilst she slaved over the stove. The delectable smell would fill the two-story brick house and we would follow our noses to the warm kitchen. Whenever I make lasagna myself I try to replica that nourishing smell that my mother created, which just made you feel safe and snug. Each time I cook I change the recipe slightly and get a little closer to creating the aroma of my childhood. Below is my latest attempt.

INGREDIENTS 

• 2 teaspoons olive oil
• 1 leek, finely chopped
• 2 carrots, finely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• 2 tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 500g lean minced beef (preferably from a butcher)
• 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
• 1 x 400g tin brown lentils, drained
• 125ml beef stock 
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon Worcester sauce 
• 2 tablespoons mixed herbs
• 300-315g lasagna sheets (optional- gluten free lasagna sheets)

Cheese sauce

• 750ml (3 cups) skim milk
• 40g cornflour (gluten free)
• 100g reduced-fat grated cheese
• Optional- 1-2 tablespoons parmesan cheese 

COOKING 

1. Heat oil in a large saucepan or frying pan on medium to high heat. Add leek and cook for 2 minutes or until softened. Add carrot and garlic and cook, stirring for another 2 minutes. Add minced beef and stir well, breaking up any lumps of meat. Cook until beef is well browned. 

2. Add diced tomato, fresh tomato, stock, tomato paste, Worcester sauce and mixed herbs to the pan and stir to combine. Bring to the boil, then reduce the heat and simmer, partially covered, for 20 minutes. Stir the mixture occasionally. 

3. Preheat fan-forced oven to 180 degrees celsius. Pour a little of the meat sauce into the base of an overproof dish (I like to use a roasting tin). Spread the meat mixture across the bottom of the dish. Place a layer of lasagna sheets in the dish over the meat. Repeat this process until all the meat and lasagne sheets are used. (I am usually just able to make 3 layers of each meat & lasagna sheets if I spread the meat sparingly). 

4. To make cheese sauce- place cornflour and a little of the milk in a small saucepan on low heat, and stir to form a paste. Continue to gradually add milk to the liquid mixture and stir constantly. When the mixture boils and thickens remove from the heat and stir in the grated cheese until it has melted. Pour the sauce evenly over the lasagna. Add 1-2 tablespoons of parmesan cheese on top of the sauce if you wish. 

5. Bake lasagne for 1 hour. After this hour, leave the lasagne to cool for 15 minutes before serving. 

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THE NEW BEAN ON THE BLOCK - BLACK BEANS

Black beans are my new favourite bean. I’ve recently started to consume a great deal more Mexican food than I used to; this is due to the epic chain Guzman Y Gomez opening up in Brisbane. One Sunday night at home, gorging on takeaway from this Mexican Taqueria (where, would you believe, a huge chunk of the menu is gluten free) I told myself that I would cook a dish of my very own with black beans. 

Locating this bean was another matter. The supermarkets I frequented had no idea what black beans are. Even a few specialty health food stores gave me quizzical looks when I mentioned this ingredient. Mrs Flannery’s health food store came to the rescue yesterday afternoon, when the lady behind the counter told me that they stocked 3 different varieties! This is a long-winded way of telling you that I went to a lot of trouble to locate this bean. But its was well worth it. Continue reading for the recipe. 

CHICKEN & BLACK BEAN 


INGREDIENTS

• 500g chicken breast, cut into 3cm pieces
• 1 bunch baby broccoli (broccolini), each stalk divided into 3 pieces 
• 150 snow peas, trimmed 
• 1 medium brown onion, finely chopped
• 3cm fresh ginger, grated
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon sesame oil
• 400g tinned black beans, drained 
• 1 1/2 cups doongara rice 
• 1 tablespoon lime juice
• 2 tablespoons black bean sauce 
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce 

COOKING 

1. Pour rice into a medium saucepan with 3 cups of water. Bring to the boil and then simmer until rice is completely absorbed. 

2. Steam baby broccoli and snow peas. (I did this by bringing a medium saucepan of water to the boil and placing a colander on top of the saucepan. Place the vegetables in the colander and cover with a lid. Alternatively you can use a steamer if you are lucky enough to  possess one). Steam for 7-10 minutes or until vegetables are tender. 

3. Meanwhile, pour sesame oil in a wok and swirl to coat the base. Cook onion, garlic and ginger on medium heat until onion is soft. Add chicken pieces to the wok and stir-fry until chicken is coloured and just cooked (no pink flesh remains). 

4. Add drained black beans to the cooked chicken and stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Add cooked vegetables and lime juice, black bean, oyster and soy sauce and stir well to combine. 

5. Serve black bean dish on top of a bed of rice. 

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CHICKEN & MANGO SALAD

This protein packed salad is both iridescent and extremely refreshing. When my dear friend Bec told me she was going to make this salad for us, I admit that I had high expectations for the meal. Mostly due to the fact that she is an excellent cook, but also because I had a feeling that chicken, avocado and mango would be divine together. I was not disappointed.  I loved the salad so much that I made it the very next day for dinner. My partner scoffed at the idea of salad for dinner, and then ate his words as he became full after just one bowl. If you not are going to serve this salad immediately after making it, combine the juice of 1/2 of the lime with the cubed avocado in a small bowl. This will stop the avocado from going brown. 

INGREDIENTS 

• 500g chicken breast, roughly chopped into 3-4cm pieces
• 1 teaspoon ground or smoked paprika
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed or finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon rice bran oil 
• 1 mango, cut into cubes and stone discarded
• 300g iceberg lettuce, roughly shredded
• 1/2 medium avocado, cut into cubes 
• 100g celery, finely chopped 
• the juice of 1 medium lime 
• Optional- fresh coriander leaves

COOKING

1. Place chicken, paprika, garlic and oil in a medium bowl and toss well to combine. Place chicken in the fridge to marinade for 10 minutes. 

2. Heat a medium fry pan over medium heat. When pan is hot, add the marinated chicken and cook until it is lightly coloured and cooked through, around 5 minutes. Remove chicken from stove. 

3. Place the cooked chicken, mango, lettuce, avocado, celery and coriander (if using) in a large serving bowl. Drizzle the lime juice on top and toss well to combine. 

Serves / 4 

Total Preparation time / 5 minutes to chop chicken & garlic  (as you can do all the remaining preparation whilst the chicken is marinating) 

Total Cooking time / max 20 minutes (including 10 minutes to marinate)

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HUMMINGBIRD CAKE

I have always wondered what ingredients go into a ‘hummingbird’ cake. The name of the cake gives nothing away as to what these mysterious ingredients may be. I found a recipe for such a cake in a ‘Super Food Ideas’ cooking magazine a few weekends ago and decided to try it out. After a few illegible scribbles on my part containing slight changes to the recipe, I was ready to bake. Initially I thought that using pineapple in cake batter would make the end result soggy and taste somewhat like  pineapple topping on a pizza. How wrong I was. The pineapple makes this cake! As a huge plus, the recipe below is for REDUCED-FAT hummingbird cake. So no need to stop at one small slice. 

INGREDIENTS

CAKE 

• 2 cups self-raising flour
• a pinch of nutmeg 
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1 cup brown sugar, tightly packed 
• 1/2 teaspoon bicarb of soda
• 1 ripe mashed banana
• 2 eggs, lightly beaten 
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence 
• 440g can pineapple pieces in natural juice (undrained)
• 1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts
• cooking oil spray

ICING 

• 40g reduced-fat dairy spread
• 1 teaspoon vanilla essence
• 1 1/2 cups pure icing sugar mixture 

COOKING 

1. Preheat oven to 160 degrees *C fan-forced (180 *C regular oven). Lightly grease a round cake tin. (The tin I used was 4.5cm deep and had a 23 cm base). 

2. Pour flour, bicarb of soda, brown sugar, nutmeg and cinnamon in a large bowl. Stir well to combine, using a metal spoon. Stir in eggs, oil, pineapple, banana, vanilla and two-thirds of the 1/2 cup of walnuts until the mixture forms a batter. 

3. Pour batter into the prepared cake tin. Bake for around 45-50 minutes or until a skewer/knife you have inserted in the cake comes out clean. Cool in pan for 15 minutes, then turn onto a plate or wire rack and leave cake to cool completely. 

4. Use an electric mixer to combine vanilla, spread and icing sugar until smooth. Spread icing over top of cake. Dust cake with remaining walnut pieces. 

(*C - degrees celsius)

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HOISIN CHICKEN WITH UDON NOODLES

I wrote a post not long ago about my discovery of udon noodles. Below is another easy to prepare recipe using these noodles. You may notice that I used all parts of the broccoli in the recipe, including the stalks. Broccoli stalks contain the same amount of fiber and vitamins that broccoli florets do and in my opinion contain more flavour. Give the stalks a try next time you cook this vegetable.  

INGREDIENTS

• 400-440g udon noodles
• 300g chicken breast, cut into 3cm pieces
• 1 head broccoli,  florets and stalks roughly chopped
• 3 green onions, roughly chopped
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed 
• 2 teaspoons peanut oil
• 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce 
• 1 teaspoon white wine vinegar
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce 

COOKING

1. Place noodles in a large heatproof bowl. Bring a kettle of water to the boil and pour water over noodles. Use a fork to break noodles apart until they are all separated. Drain.

2. Place chicken pieces, 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce and white wine vinegar in a medium bowl. Toss well to combine. 

3. Heat oil in a wok over medium-high heat. Place green onion, broccoli and garlic in the wok and stir fry for around 5 minutes or until broccoli is becoming tender. Add chicken and stir-fry for a few minutes or until chicken is just cooked through. Add drained noodles, 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce and soy sauce to the wok and toss well to combine. 

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VEGETARIAN REDUCED-FAT NACHOS

NACHOS is one of my favourite all time dishes to make. It’s a perfect meal to make when you are feeling a little lazy as you can just throw the ingredients together and place them in the oven. It also works as a fabulous crowd pleaser when you are entertaining. After dutiful experimentation, I have created what I believe to be low-fat nachos. Or as low-fat as you can make them whilst still tasting good. They are also vegetarian and there is an option to make them gluten-free as well. Who knew Mexican food could be so versatile?

INGREDIENTS


HOMEMADE TOMATO SALSA

• 1 small red salad onion (100-120g), finely chopped
• 350g tomato, roughly chopped into cubes
• 100g cucumber, roughly chopped into cubes
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon lime juice

NACHOS

• 6-8 corn tortillas, cut into wedges (I eighth each tortilla) Gluten free tortillas are available at all major supermarkets.
• 400g can red kidney beans, drained 
• 400g can 4-bean mix, drained  
• 1/2 cup reduced-fat grated cheese
• 1/4 to 1/2 cup low-fat sour cream

AVOCADO TOPPING

• 1 avocado, peeled with the stone removed and diced.
• pinch of sea salt & ground black pepper
• 1-2 garlic cloves, crushed
• 1 tablespoon lime juice 

COOKING

1. Combine all the ingredients for the tomato salsa in a bowl. Refrigerate for around 30 minutes.


2. Preheat oven to 200 degrees celsius, fan-forced. Place tortillas wedges in a single layer on oven trays lined with baking paper. Bake for around 10-15 minutes or until wedges are light golden and crispy. 


3. Place cooked wedges in a deep roasting tin. Top with beans and cheese and place in the oven for around 7-10 minutes or until cheese is melted. 

4. Meanwhile, mash all the ingredients of the avocado topping together so that it forms an almost smooth paste. This seems to work better with a fork.

5. Top cooked nachos with homemade tomato salsa, avocado topping and sour cream.

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LOW-FAT COLESLAW

I have always wanted to make my own coleslaw. The obstacle preventing me from realizing this goal for the past year has been the fact that I cannot stand coleslaw that is made with oil and/or cream. The smell of it alone repulses me. I discovered a light low-fat mayonnaise the other day (Praise 99% fat free) that I decided to use when making my very own coleslaw recipe. A vivid red cabbage caught my eye at a farmers market last weekend which I purchased to use as the base for this dish. Besides being deliciously light in calories, the dish is extremely colourful and quite striking to look at. I served this coleslaw tonight as a side dish and it was consumed by the four of us hungry diners within minutes. 

INGREDIENTS

• 1/4 red cabbage, finely shredded
• 1 cup wombok (chinese cabbage), finely shredded
• 2 small carrots or 1 large carrot, grated 
• 3 green onions, finely chopped
• sea salt & ground pepper 
• 1/2 cup low-fat mayonnaise
• 2 tablespoons lime juice 

COOKING

1. Combine all ingredients in a large serving bowl and toss well. 

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